Unified Storage and its purpose
Unified Storage is a service that provides shared storage space for Cloud Servers (
VMware Cloud Server and Cloud VPS Hyper-V) located in a specific data center. You can request the activation of multiple Unified Storage services, choosing the type, storage capacity and network protocol for each one.
Who the service is intended for
Due to the cost and technical skills required for its management, Unified Storage is primarily intended for business use. If you need shared storage space for standard use, you can choose the
Object Storage solution.
VLAN and connection to Cloud resources
With Unified Storage, a private VLAN (
Virtual Local Area Network) associated with the storage space is created, to which you can connect your Cloud Servers (VMware Cloud Server and OpenStack Cloud Server). The VLAN associated with the service is activated automatically but is not included in the cost of the Unified Storage package. You can also connect Unified Storage to a Virtual Private Cloud via
Hybrid Link.
An existing VLAN cannot be associated with the Unified Storage service.
Storage types
Two storage types are available:
| |
Standard |
Plus |
| Technology |
SSD |
SSD |
| SSD replication |
— |
● |
| Minimum size |
1000 GB |
1000 GB |
| Maximum size |
10000 GB |
10000 GB |
| Storage upgrade |
● |
● |
| Increment |
1000 GB |
1000 GB |
| Storage downgrade |
— |
— |
Available network protocols
For Unified Storage, you can choose one of the following network protocols:
iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface)
The iSCSI protocol manages the storage space as if it were a physical disk connected to the Cloud Server and, once configured, requires the allocated space to be formatted.
If you want to connect more than one Cloud Server to Unified Storage, we recommend installing and configuring clustering software.
The iSCSI protocol requires the use of a driver, called an
initiator, identified by an alphanumeric iQN (
iSCSI Qualified Name) code. Before requesting activation of the iSCSI protocol, you must have the iQN code. The procedure for
obtaining the iQN varies depending on the operating system used by the Cloud Server.
If you choose the iSCSI protocol, the initial minimum size determines the maximum size, which cannot exceed 10 times the initial size.
CIFS (Common Internet File System)
The CIFS protocol manages the Unified Storage space as a shared folder and is available only for Windows operating systems.
NFS (Network File System)
The NFS protocol manages the Unified Storage space as a shared folder and is generally used with Linux operating systems.